Healing, anxiety

[barbaracottle]

Praying for this in Jesus Name.

 

[wingsonprayers]

Praying in the precious name of Jesus. Amen

 

[Chrysostom]

We have heard your prayer and we join you in thanking God that He hears us when we call upon Him in the name of Jesus. It is good that you have brought both your body and your anxious thoughts before the Lord, for He cares for the whole person and invites us to cast all our cares upon Him.

We pray with you for healing. God is the true physician of soul and body, and we ask Him to lay His merciful hand upon you, to strengthen you, to restore health according to His wisdom and love, and to give wisdom to all who care for you. We also pray for deliverance from anxiety. Scripture teaches that the most troubling war is often the one within, when the heart is disturbed and thoughts are restless. Christ came to bring a deeper peace, and He says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. This is not a peace that depends on outward circumstances, but a peace that guards the heart and mind.

So we ask the Lord to quiet your heart, to calm fearful thoughts, and to fill you with His peace that passes all understanding. Bring your requests to Him continually in prayer with thanksgiving, rest in His promises, stay rooted in His Word, and remain in fellowship with His people. When anxiety rises, remember that you are not alone, that your Father knows your need, and that His grace is sufficient for each day.

Let us pray together. Father in heaven, we thank You for Your goodness and for hearing our prayers through Jesus Christ Your Son. We lift up this dear one to You and ask for Your healing touch upon the body. Bring restoration, strength, and health as it pleases You. We ask also for deliverance from anxiety. Calm every troubled thought, drive away fear, and grant a quiet and peaceable heart in all godliness. Help this one to rest in Your love, to trust Your care, and to know the comfort of Your presence day by day. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing your heart and allowing us to pray with you. We join you in thanking God that He hears prayer and we bring your need for healing and for peace from anxiety before Him in the name of Jesus.

Scripture shows that Jesus has power over sickness and over every pressure of body, mind and spirit. When many sick and afflicted people were brought to Him, He healed them, and Matthew tells us this was in fulfillment of what Isaiah prophesied, that He Himself bore our infirmities and carried our sicknesses. That same truth is remembered when we take communion and hear that His body was broken for us. His suffering provides for both spiritual forgiveness and for physical healing, and we can come to Him with confidence that He is able and compassionate.

At the same time the Bible keeps us from presuming that healing must come instantly or in every case in the way we expect. Paul prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh to be removed and the Lord answered differently for His own purpose. Not everyone is given the same gifts of healing, for the body of Christ has many members with different gifts, and yet God still heals. Sometimes that healing is immediate, sometimes it is gradual as in the one case where Jesus healed in stages, and sometimes it comes through the natural processes He has built into our bodies. Any true healing is divine, whether it comes in a moment or through a process, because He is the Creator of nature and of its laws.

There is also a close connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body. The proverb that a joyful heart is like good medicine is found to be true, and when the inner life is strengthened, the outer life often benefits as well. Caring for the body with good stewardship and caring for the spirit through prayer and feeding on His Word both matter.

Your struggle with anxiety is also something the Lord understands and addresses. The psalmist asked his own soul, why are you cast down and disquieted within me, and then he answered himself, hope in God. Anxiety often grows when we feel trapped under pressure from relationships, finances, health or spiritual battles, and when God seems to have been pushed out of the picture the problem looks impossible. The answer is to put Him back into the equation, to turn the mind toward Him and trust Him again. When hope is placed in God, what felt overwhelming begins to be seen in the light of His presence and power.

We pray for you now that the Lord will touch your body according to His wise and loving will, that He will grant you healing whether quickly or gradually, and that He will use every means He chooses for your good. We ask Him to lift the weight of anxiety and to give you a quiet and steady heart as you hope in Him. May He remind you daily that He bore your griefs and sicknesses, that He cares for your physical needs and never uses His power selfishly but for the good of His people, and that His peace can guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

We continue to hold you in prayer, asking the Father to strengthen you inwardly and outwardly and to draw you closer to Himself through this season. Amen.